Johansson is considered one of Hollywood's modern sex symbols, and has frequently appeared in published lists of the sexiest women in the world, including when she was named the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire magazine in both 2006 and 2013 (the only woman to be chosen for the title twice),[2][3] and the "Sexiest Celebrity" by Playboy magazine in 2007.[4]

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Johansson was born in New York City.[5] Her father, Karsten Johansson, is a Danish-born architect originally from Copenhagen,[6] and her paternal grandfather, Ejner Johansson, was a screenwriter and director. Her mother, Melanie Sloan, a producer, comes from an Ashkenazi Jewish family from the Bronx;[7][8][9] Sloan's ancestors were Jewish immigrants from both Poland and Minsk in the Russian Empire.[10][11] She has an older sister, Vanessa, also an actress; an older brother, Adrian; a twin brother, Hunter (who appeared with her in the film Manny & Lo);[12][13] and an older half-brother, Christian, from her father's first marriage.[14]

Johansson grew up in a household with "little money",[15] and with a mother who was a "film buff".[16] She and her twin brother attended P.S. 41 in the upper-middle-class Greenwich Village neighborhood, in Manhattan, for elementary school.[17] Johansson began her theatrical training by attending and graduating from Professional Children's School in Manhattan in 2002.[18]

Johansson began acting during childhood, after her mother started taking her to auditions. She would audition for commercials but took rejection so hard her mother began limiting her to film tryouts.[19] She made her film debut at the age of 9, as John Ritter's daughter in the 1994 fantasy comedy, North.[5] Following minor roles in the 1995 film Just Cause, as the daughter of Sean Connery and Kate Capshaw, and If Lucy Fell in 1996, she played the role of Amanda in Manny & Lo (1996). Her performance in Manny & Lo garnered a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female,[5] and positive reviews, one noting, "[the film] grows on you, largely because of the charm of ... Scarlett Johansson",[20] while San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle commentated on her "peaceful aura", and wrote, "If she can get through puberty with that aura undisturbed, she could become an important actress."[21]

At age 18, Johansson played Griet in Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring. While noting, "Audiences feel as if they are spying on a moment of artistic inspiration when painter Vermeer creates the title work", USA Today praised her, suggesting, "[She] is having a banner year that Oscar voters should recognize."[41] In his review for the New Yorker, Anthony Lane said, "What keeps Webber's movie alive is the tenseness of the setup ... and, above all, the presence of Johansson. She is often wordless and close to plain onscreen, but wait for the ardor with which she can summon a closeup and bloom under its gaze; this is her film, not Vermeer's, all the way."[42]Owen Gleiberman, for Entertainment Weekly, wrote of her "nearly silent performance", observing, "The interplay on her face of fear, ignorance, curiosity, and sex is intensely dramatic."[43] She was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama[37] and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.[36] She was nominated by the London Film Critics' Circle,[44] the Phoenix Film Critics Society.

Johansson was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in June 2004.[45] The same year, she had voice or onscreen roles in five films: The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; A Good Woman, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, which had a limited U.S. release, and was both a box office[46] and critical[47] failure, described by the The New York Times as a "misbegotten Hollywood-minded screen adaptation" with "an excruciating divide between the film's British actors (led by Tom Wilkinson and Stephen Campbell Moore), who are comfortable delivering Wilde's aphorisms ... and its American marquee names, Helen Hunt and Scarlett Johansson, [who have] little connection to the English language as spoken in the high Wildean style";[48] the critically panned teen heist film The Perfect Score,[49] the romantic comedy In Good Company, a critical and box office success;[50] and, finally, the dark, Southern drama, A Love Song for Bobby Long, for which she earned her a third Golden Globe for Best Actress nomination.[37]

In another collaboration with Allen, she was cast opposite Hugh Jackman and Allen in the 2006 film Scoop. While the film enjoyed a modest worldwide box office success,[56] it received mixed reviews by critics.[57][58] The same year, she appeared in Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia, a film noir shot in Los Angeles and Bulgaria. Johansson later said she was a De Palma fan and had wanted to work with him on the film, even though she thought that she was "physically wrong" for the part.[59]

Johansson next had a supporting role in the Christopher Nolan thriller The Prestige (2006), again opposite Hugh Jackman, as well as Christian Bale. Nolan, who described Johansson as possessing an "ambiguity... a shielded quality",[60] said he was "very keen" for her to play the role.[61] Johansson said, "I loved working with [Christopher Nolan]. He's incredibly focused and driven and involved, and really involved in the performance in every aspect. He's incredible to watch."[62] The film was both a critical[63] and a worldwide box office[64] success, recommended by the Los Angeles Times as "an adult, provocative piece of work."[65] Also in 2006, Johansson starred in the short film 'When The Deal Goes Down, directed by Bennett Miller, set to Bob Dylan's "When the Deal Goes Down...", released to promote Dylan's album, Modern Times.[66]

Johansson starred in 2007's The Nanny Diaries, alongside Laura Linney. The film performed only marginally well at the box office,[67] and was critically panned.[68] Johansson's reviews were mixed, with Variety saying, "[She] essays an engaging heroine",[69] while The New Yorker criticized her for looking "merely confused" while "trying to give the material a plausible emotional center".[70]

In 2008, Johansson starred in The Other Boleyn Girl, with Natalie Portman and Eric Bana,[71] a film which garnered mixed reviews.[72][73] Writing for Rolling Stone, Pete Travers criticized the film for "[moving] in frustrating herks and jerks", but was more positive in his assessment of Johansson and Portman, and wrote, "What works is the combustible teaming of Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, who give the Boleyn hotties a tough core of intelligence and wit, swinging the film's sixteenth-century protofeminist issues handily into this one."[74]

In November 2011, it was reported that she planned to make her directorial debut by adapting Truman Capote's novel, Summer Crossing, with the screenplay written by playwright Tristine Skyler.[87][88][89] Johansson reprised the role of Natasha Romanoff in The Avengers in 2012. The Avengers received positive reviews[90] and was highly successful at the box office, becoming the third highest-grossing film both in the United States and worldwide.[91] In early March 2012, it was announced that Johansson had been cast as Janet Leigh in the Sacha Gervasi-directed film Hitchcock, a behind-the-scenes drama about the making of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho.[92][93] Released in November 2012, Hitchcock received mixed to positive reviews.[94]

In October 2014, it was announced that Johannson will star in and executive produce the upcoming eight-episode period series The Custom of the Country, based on Edith Wharton's 1913 novel of the same name. She is set to play Undine Spragg, a young woman from the Midwest who tries to climb her way up the New York City social ladder. It will be written by Christopher Hampton.[109][110]

In 2015, Johansson again played the Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron, alongside the original cast of the first Avengers film.[118] A mixture of close-ups, concealing costumes, stunt doubles and visual effects were used to help hide Johansson's pregnancy during filming.[119]

On January 5, 2015, Variety announced that Johannson has signed on to play the lead role in a film adaptation of the Ghost in the Shell franchise, which will be directed by Rupert Sanders and produced by Avi Arad and Steven Paul.[120][121] The casting of Johansson for the film was met with criticism from many fans and critics, calling the choice "whitewashing". A petition was created in the effort to have Johansson removed from the project.[122][123]

Johansson starred as Maggie in a Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof beginning January 17, 2013.[131] Her performance received mixed reviews from critics.[132] Thom Geier, writing for Entertainment Weekly, wrote, "Scarlett Johansson brings a fierce fighting spirit to Maggie the Cat in director Rob Ashford's languorous revival ... Johansson shows a winning determination – to lure back her husband, to defend their share of his family's fortune, to maintain a sometimes shaky Southern accent."[133] On the other hand, reviewer Joe Dziemianowicz (The Daily News) called her performance "alarmingly one-note".[134]

Johansson has appeared in advertising campaigns for Calvin Klein, L'Oréal and Louis Vuitton,[135][136] and has been the face of Spanish brand Mango since 2009.[137] After appearing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala with Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Johansson was announced as the face of the new Dolce & Gabbana make-up collection in early 2009.[138] She made a personal appearance at the London store, Selfridges, on July 31, 2009, to help launch and promote the line.[139] Johansson was also the first Hollywood celebrity to become an ambassador for a champagne house. She is the spokesperson for Moët & Chandon.[140] In January 2014, the Israeli Sodastream home-carbonation system company announced Johannson as its first brand ambassador.[141] She has stayed the course, though her involvement has generated controversy.[142]

The album was named the "23rd best album of 2008" by NME[157] and peaked at No.1 on the BillboardTop Heatseekers chart and No. 126 on the Billboard 200 chart.[158] Of her album, Johansson said, "I had this golden opportunity to record and thought I would do maybe an album of standards, because I'm not a songwriter. I'm a vocalist."[159] Johansson said for her recording she "wanted to have space and [she] wanted to be in a remote place where all of us could just be ourselves and not worry about anyone trying to listen in or get in on that."[160] Johansson said in an interview that she started listening to Tom Waits when she was 11 or 12 years old.[161] Of Tom Waits, Johansson said in an interview, "His melodies are so beautiful, his voice is so distinct and I had my own way of doing Tom Waits songs."[162] In December 2008, MTV reported Johansson planned to follow-up Anywhere I Lay My Head with an album of all original music, saying, "I don't think I'd do covers, so it'd be a project that I have to dedicate myself to. I feel like that's something for the future."[163]

In February 2015, Johansson formed a band called The Singles. It is made up of Este Haim from HAIM, Holly Miranda, Kendra Morris, and Julia Haltigan. The first single released by the group was called "Candy".[170] Johansson was issued a cease and desist order from the lead singer of the Los Angeles-based rock band The Singles, demanding Johansson stop using their name.[171]

Johansson's physical appearance and personality consistently score high within the US and UK male demographic. Maxim ranked her at No. 6 in their Hot 100 Issue in 2006,[172] No. 3 in 2007,[173] No. 2 in 2008,[174] No. 34 in 2009,[175] No. 14 in 2010, and[176] 2011,[177] No. 17 in 2012[178] No. 15 in 2013,[179] and No. 2 in 2014.[180] In November 2006, she was named the "Sexiest Woman Alive" by Esquire.[181] She appeared on the cover of the March 2006 issue of Vanity Fair in the nude alongside actress Keira Knightley and fashion designer Tom Ford.[182] In February 2007, she was named the "Sexiest Celebrity" of the year by Playboy.[183] In 2010, GQ named her its Babe of the Year.[184] In 2011, Men's Health named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 12.[185]FHM has regularly ranked her as one of their 100 sexiest famous women since 2005.[186]

During the filming of Match Point, director Woody Allen described Johansson as "sexually overwhelming", saying that he found it "very hard to be extra witty around a sexually overwhelming, beautiful young woman who is wittier than you are."[187] In 2014, New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane wrote that "she is evidently, and profitably, aware of her sultriness, and of how much, down to the last inch, it contributes to the contours of her reputation."[188]

Johansson is commonly referred to as "ScarJo" by the media and fans, but has stated that she dislikes the nickname, calling it "awful" and "terrible".[189][190] In the May 2014 issue of Glamour, she stated, "I associate that name [ScarJo] with, like, pop stars. It sounds tacky. It's lazy and flippant. And there's something kind of violent about it. There's something insulting about it."[191]

In 2005, Johansson became a Global Ambassador for the aid and development agency Oxfam.[192] In March 2008, a UK-based bidder paid £20,000 on an eBay auction to benefit Oxfam, winning a hair and makeup treatment, a pair of tickets and a chauffeured trip to accompany Johansson on a 20-minute date to the world premiere of He's Just Not That Into You.[193]

In January 2014, Johansson resigned from her Oxfam position after facing criticism[194] for her promotion of SodaStream, whose main factory is based in Mishor Adumim, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, as Oxfam opposes all trade with such Israeli settlements.[195] Johansson said she and Oxfam "have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement".[196] In response to her resignation, Oxfam stated that it was "grateful for her many contributions ... [in] helping to highlight the impact of natural disasters and raise funds to save lives and fight poverty".[197][198]

Johansson began dating Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds in 2007,[214] and in May 2008, it was reported that they were engaged.[215] On September 27, 2008, the couple married in a quiet ceremony near Tofino, British Columbia.[214][216] They purchased a $2.8 million home together near Los Angeles.[217] On December 14, 2010, the couple announced their separation.[218] Their divorce was finalized on July 1, 2011.[219]

Following her separation from Reynolds, Johansson dated actor Sean Penn in a short-lived, but highly publicized relationship that lasted until June 2011,[220] after which Johansson entered a year-and-a-half long relationship with advertising executive Nate Naylor. The pair split up in October 2012.[221][222]

In November 2012, Johansson started dating Frenchman Romain Dauriac, the owner of an independent advertising agency.[223][224] In September 2013, it was announced that Johansson and Dauriac were engaged.[225] In 2014, Johansson and Dauriac began dividing their time between residences in New York City and Paris, France.[226] Her representative confirmed on September 4, 2014, that their daughter, Rose Dorothy, had been born at an unspecified date.[227][228] Johansson and Dauriac married on October 1, 2014, in Philipsburg, Montana.[229]

In September 2011, nude photographs of Johansson hacked from her cell phone were published online. Following an FBI investigation, Christopher Chaney was arrested, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.[230][231][232] Johansson said the photos had been sent to her then-husband, Ryan Reynolds, three years prior to the incident.[233][234]